R. A. (Richard Alfred) Davenport

Richard Alfred Davenport (about 1777–1852) was an English miscellaneous writer who spent much of his working life producing books and compilations for the reading public. Sources describe him as active in London from an early age, and his range was unusually broad: biography, history, literary criticism, poetry, and translation all formed part of his output.

He is especially associated with large-scale reference and life-writing projects, including A Dictionary of Biography, and with works such as The History of the Bastile, and of its Principal Captives and Sketches of Imposture, Deception, and Credulity. That mix of subjects helps explain his reputation as a versatile, industrious author rather than a specialist in one single field.

Some accounts also note that he worked as a publisher as well as a writer. While detailed personal information is limited in the sources reviewed, the overall picture is clear: he was a prolific nineteenth-century literary laborer whose books were meant to inform, entertain, and introduce general readers to history and notable lives.